JPS61179749A - Pattern converting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a pattern converting apparatus capable of performing various font indication inputs by using a simple number, by mounting a memory means, a specifying means for specifying various fonts of the memory mean by a number and a selection means for selecting the font of the same number specified by the specifying means according to number input from the outside. CONSTITUTION:A font memory 11 stores plural kinds of fonts A-D and a specifying means 12 specifies the fonts A-D in the font memory 11 by allotting a number thereto and a register 13 holds, for example, numbers 0-3 and the head addresses of the corresponding fonts A-D in pairs for the purpose of specification. A comparing means 14 compares the indicated code N from the outside with the specific number read thorugh a line 110 and a selection means 15 connects character code input C to the specific number font wherein coincidence was obtained in the comparing means 14. By this constitution, a pattern converting apparatus having simple structure for obtaining various font outputs, inexpensive and having high reliability is obtained.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a pattern conversion device, and more particularly to a pattern conversion device that selectively outputs patterns of multiple mosquito species.

E. Prior Art] In recent years, as laser beam printers have become widespread, the types of characters that can be output have diversified.For example, enlarged or reduced characters can be used by specifying them from a keyboard on an operation panel. It is also possible to use bold letters (BOLD), italic letters (ITALIC), etc. A so-called pattern conversion device is a device that generates a desired font pattern according to user specifications, but conventionally, this type of pattern conversion requires complicated control and parameter specification.

To explain this point in more detail, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional pattern conversion device, where 1 is the main body of the device, and 4 is a block diagram showing a conventional pattern conversion device.
is a printer that prints using a font pattern P output from the main body L. Furthermore, in the main body L, 2 is a font memory for reading out a font pattern FP using a character address FA, and 3 is a font memory for accessing the font memory 2 using a character code C (character address FA), and the read pattern FP is read out according to a specified parameter T. In the configuration 6 or above, which is a pattern conversion/formation unit that performs size conversion, character spacing conversion, etc., and forms and outputs a desired font pattern P, when the user specifies a font from the keyboard, this is pattern converted/formed as parameter T information. According to the configuration and method of the conventional pattern conversion fist forming section 3, the parameter T is information that converts character spacing, character size, character thickness and inclination into concrete numerical values, Furthermore, since the information needed to distinguish between character design types, etc., it not only complicated the creation of the parameter T, but also complicated the structure and control of the pattern conversion/formation section 3. .

L Purpose] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and its purpose is to provide a pattern conversion device that can input various font specifications using simple numbers (for example, integers). It's about doing.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a pattern converting device with simple structure and control for obtaining various font outputs.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a pattern conversion device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG.
Program execution of PU (not shown) (Figures 3 and 4)
11 is a font memory that stores multiple types of fonts A to D, and 12 is a font AND in the font memory 11.
13 is for this purpose, for example, numbers O to 3 and corresponding fonts A to D.
14 is a register that holds the (font) designation code N (number) from the outside and line 1 in pairs.
15 is a selection means for connecting the character code input C to the specific number font for which a match has been obtained by the comparison means 14.

The font memory 11 is composed of ROM, RAM, or a combination thereof, and fonts can be loaded into the RAM from the outside via line 106.

Font memory 11 is a regular font (REGULAR)
In addition, various fonts such as enlarged font, reduced font, bold font (BOLD), italic font (IT
ALIG), footnote font (FOOTNOTE), etc. are stored separately. An index register M for accessing the font memory 11 provides any starting address to the phono A-D via a line 102. The readout pattern P of the font memory 11 is a pattern desired by the user as it is, and is sent to the printer 4 via the line 105. Furthermore, for example, it is possible to store a number in advance in a specific area of font A to identify the own font, and for this purpose, the number shown in FIG.
The number read from the font specific area in the initialization process 2 of b) can be stored in the register 13 via line 104.

An address register G is provided in the identification means 12, which register G can access any of the contents of the register 13 via a line 103.

It is also possible to write the contents of register G.

With the above configuration, the operation of the embodiment will be described below.

Figures 3(a) and (b) relate to the initialization process of the embodiment in which numbers are assigned to phono) A-D, and in the third rgJ(a), numbers are assigned in the physical storage order of phono) A-D. 3 is a flowchart showing processing.

For example, when a laser beam printer equipped with this device is powered on, a power-on detection signal PW is sent via line 107.
ROM is added and input to initialization process 1. Step S
1, register G is set to O, and in step S2, index register M is initialized to the first address of 7 ont A (physically stored first). In step S3, it is determined whether or not font A exists at that address. If font A exists, a number (integer) is assigned to the font in step S4. Initially, the content of register G is O, so address θ of register 13 is selected, and the content O of G is written in the first half ((G)x←G), and the beginning of A is written in the second half (phono). The address is written < (G)2←M1. In step S5, the contents of register G are incremented by 1, and in step S6, the contents of index register M are added to font B.
(physically stored next) is updated to indicate the first address.

Next, the flow returns to step S3 to determine whether font B exists there. In this way, the same process as described above is repeated for up to font D, and when it is determined that the primary font E does not exist, the process ends.

After initialization process 1 is completed, the user can use font A-
You can manually specify D by keying the M car number (for example, θ to 3). If the numbers O to 3 do not match the original meaning of the font (enlargement, reduction, etc.) due to user inexperience, a symmetry table is provided near the console for convenience. However, it is usually easy to specify without a symmetric table. Moreover, since the physical storage order of fonts A to D matches the designated numbers 0 to 3, it is convenient that an intuitive response can be taken when replacing the font ROM or reloading the font.

Incidentally, in the case shown in FIG. 3(a), instead of going to the trouble of executing initialization process 1, it is also possible to configure the device in advance so that a predetermined number (0 to 3) is assigned to the physical storage order of the font. good.

FIG. 143 (b) is a flowchart relating to the initialization process of another embodiment, which shows the process specified by the number held by AD itself (number 7 on). Note that the same processing blocks as those in FIG. 3(a) are given the same numbers and their explanations will be omitted. In the same manner, the process proceeds to step S3, and if it is determined that font A is present at the address, the process proceeds to step S7. Assign. That is, since the content of the address register G is O at first, address 0 of the register 13 is selected, and the content read from the first address M of the font A is written in the first half of it.
CG)
If it is written, number 1 will be assigned. Also, in the latter half, the first address of phono)A is written ((G)2←
M+, the following processing is the same as that in FIG. 3(a).

Now, in this case, the font itself has a number that identifies itself (
Since the font has a name), it has the advantage that the specified number does not change even if the font is loaded (ROM inserted) to any address in the font memory II.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing font designation processing during use. This process is input when the user or the like specifies a desired font. In step Sll, line 1
Designation code N (integer number O to 3) input via 09
) and the contents (number) of the register 13 pointed to by the address register G at that time are compared by the comparison means 14.

If no match is found, the process advances to step 512 and the contents of address register G are incremented by 1. In step S13, it is determined whether the contents of the address register G exceed the maximum value (for example, 3), and if it does not, the process returns to step Sll. If it is exceeded, the address register G is reset in step S14, and then the process returns to step Sit. Eventually, if a match is obtained in step 11, the process proceeds to step S15, where the output of the comparison means 14 is connected to the switch of the selection means 15 to the corresponding number contact via the line 108, and the subsequent character code C is connected to the designated number font. do.

Specifically, the contents of the second half of register 13 pointed to by register G (
The font start address) is stored in index register M (M←(G) 2 ).

In the above embodiment, the specifying means 12 assigns numbers to the fonts A to D in the font memory 11 according to their physical storage order, but the invention is not limited to this. This is because it is intuitive and convenient in the case of a ROM replacement method or the like. Further, this can be done, for example, by creating a table of each start address of the font AND according to the actual arrangement (for example, from top to bottom).

[Effects] As described above, according to the present invention, the user can input various font specifications using simple numbers (for example, integers), so there is no need to provide specific keys for specifying various fonts.
It is possible to easily configure a pattern conversion application device that is easy to configure and operate.

Further, according to the present invention, since the structure and control for obtaining various font outputs are simple, an inexpensive and highly reliable pattern conversion device can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing a conventional pattern conversion device, FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram showing a pattern conversion device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Figure 3(b) is a flowchart showing the process assigned in the order of physical storage of the fonts; Figure 3(b) is a flowchart showing the process identified by the number owned by A-D (phono); Figure 4 is the process for specifying the font during use. It is a flowchart which shows. Here, 10... main body, 11... font memory,
12... Specification means, 13... Register, 14...
Comparison means, 15... selection means. Patent applicant: Canon Co., Ltd. Figure 3 CG) Figure 3 (b) Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] A storage means for storing a plurality of types of fonts, a specifying means for specifying the various fonts in the storage means by numbers, and a font having the same number specified by the specifying means according to a number input from the outside is selected. A pattern conversion device comprising a selection means.